Brian Shaw “definitely” wants Kenneth Faried back

Forward Kenneth Faried played well in his third season with the Nuggets. (John Leyba, The Denver Post)

If there was any doubt as to which side of the Kenneth Faried fence Nuggets coach Brian Shaw currently sits, there isnâ€™t any more.

â€śI definitely want to have him back,” Shaw said. “And expect to have him back.â€ť

Faried was the Nuggetsâ€™ best player after the All-Star break, leading the team in scoring (18.8 points per game), rebounding (10.1) and shooting percentage (54.6 percent). He was third on the team in steals (1.1 per game) during that span.

â€śKenneth finished out the season very, very strong,â€ť Shaw said. â€śWe clashed at times at the beginning of the season because of what I expected, and I hold the guys to a high standard, just like I hold myself. I saw some things in him this year.”

â€śIs he going to be undersized pretty much every night at his position? Yeah. But can he make up for that by doing some other things that he has a special and unique talent for doing? Yeah. Iâ€™ve seen it now, know what his motor is. I know when heâ€™s giving us everything he has and I know when heâ€™s not. And when heâ€™s not, Iâ€™m going to stay tough on him because we need him to always play with that motor.â€ť

In July the Nuggets can start negotiating an extension with Faried, who will enter the final year on his rookie contract next season. Heâ€™ll command a significant salary, and rightfully so given the improvement heâ€™s made, his potential and his appeal to Nuggets fans.

Heâ€™ll also participate as one of 28 players in the USA menâ€™s national team pool this summer. That roster will stock the teams for the World Cup of Basketball this summer in Spain and the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

â€śHe should be here,â€ť said Nuggets guard Randy Foye. â€śHeâ€™s a blue-collar guy, the fans love him. To me, heâ€™s the face of the franchise. The way the fans (love) him. When he brings something, they love watching that guy.â€ť

Follow Chris Dempsey on Twitter @dempseypost or email him at cdempsey@denverpost.com

I’m very glad he wants Faried back. I don’t want Shaw back. We went from 67 wins down to 36 in one year. That’s a bad record and it was avoidable. Had the problem with Andre Miller not occurred, the Nuggets would have won an extra 10 games, I can argue, and that puts them competing for the 8th playoff spot. The Miller situation was absurd because Shaw told a proud, highly competent veteran, that he had no use for him anymore, in the middle of a long season when his 2 other point guards just subsequently got banged up and he needed another point guard. What head coach is so dumb he thinks he can do without a key player and needs to cut the rotation down to 8 permanently? I can’t think of any NBA coach who’d do that. Shaw found out he was dead wrong on that strategy, but I’m not sure he’s learned anything from it. Terrible. I’ve seen many mediocre and bad coaches, and Shaw doesn’t seem that bad, but I have to ask what blunder will he commit next year. I’m not looking forward to it. Sure, a few players have improved, Mosgov, Faried, Quincy Miller, but that was all we asked for and expected to happen anyway, plus a winning record. This roster, and I don’t care that Gallinari was banged up because frankly he always is because he hasn’t trained into an NBA body, and I don’t care that McGee was out, he’s an enigma, but the fact is a better coach would have won 50 games with this roster. No excuses. I don’t need to see what Shaw will do. It’s just a matter of time before Kroenke gets tired of this. Attendance was down, not enough for Kroenke to panic though. But Josh Kroenke understands there weren’t enough wins for this roster. I’m calling out hot seat on Shaw right away. And I know many people want to see what Gallinari with Chandler can do, but I think the Nuggets would be way better off trading Gallinari and upgrading the team with other personell. I’m so tired of that guy, he does work very hard and gives his all and I love that about him, but his style of play and the training he’s doing make him constantly injured and that has repeatedly damaged the team.

Taylor Ide

I can’t stand listening to people like you just blow hot air about what a terrible job Shaw did. First of all he had to replace a coaching legend, not only in the NBA, but in the job he did in Denver. Secondly, we lost a ton of talent from last year: Iggy, and Gallo being the main losses. Andre Miller is fine, but he’s trying to develop a new culture in Denver and we all know that Miller would be stuck trying to play either his own way or the George Karl way. Shaw’s trying to create a half-court offense, that’ll actually lead to playoff wins. This team doesn’t deserve or need to be in the playoffs this season, they’re better off with the extra chance in the lottery. I’m not sure how any Nuggets fan can complain about coaching after what we saw over the last decade or so with Karl…just telling everyone to fast break and not setting up shooters. Shaw deserves a couple of seasons to work, and I think we’ll be happy cause we’ll be able to score in crunch time and hit shots in the half court.

wordcat

Faried is a lousy defender on a team that can’t defend anybody. The Nuggets have never been able to play defense except a few years under Karl. The most obvious characteristic in franchise history and the reason fans here have never had much to cheer for.
The only road to contending here is athletic defenders that can play fast. No to an Indiana model. Will never work here–unclear it will even work in Indiana.

Chris Dempsey arrived at The Denver Post in Dec. 2003 after seven years at the Boulder Daily Camera, where he primarily covered the University of Colorado football and men's basketball teams. A University of Colorado-Boulder alumnus, Dempsey covers the Nuggets and also chips in on college sports.